This is my first winter using a car with traction control (accord v6 and z) and I must say, for those driving in winter conditions, it's a must have in any car...

I don't want any flak from expert snow drivers who insist it's all in the foot pedals... this is only my 3rd year driving in snow and I see a big difference with TCS on...

The all season tires also help, but I've always had those in my other cars...

I even took out the Z today in poorly plowed snow and it did ok... TCS went on (blinking light) more than I can count...

FUN in the SNOW!!!

Drive safely and reasonably...

 

lol
me too
slip light is like !!!

 

yeah its great......wait i got a base.......f u guys man...i still got a rev light ...lol

 

UNDERSTEER IS BAD
vdc causes so much understeer
then like when ur on snow patch u basically just sit there...

 

The traction control sucks in this car imo. It turns on way to much and stops the car from getting anywhere. You need to get snow tires. My bmw's traction control was way better, it wasn't as sensitive and seemed to let the car have more power. Imo the z is horrible in the snow, traction control or not.

 

I agree... TCS blows in this car. I've been driving without it for months. I'm thoroughly convinved I could have recovered from my minor accident in the Z had the TCS not cut my throttle. Without TCS I've saved myself from fishtailing related accidents at least 3-5 times. The only time i hit a guardrail, guess what, TCS was ONNNNNN.

As far as snow driving in the Z goes, I drove my Z out of the garage Saturday morning because although the roads in my town had 1-2" snow on them, the main roads I heard were clear. Anyway, it was a disaster...

No, I didn't wreck it, but I didn't make it more than 1 block from home before I decided to turn around and take the beater.

On about a 10 degree incline I was totally stuck. TCS on, TCS off, didn't matter. Backed down the block I was on and turned another totally flat street to get back to my garage. I'm 15 ft. from my garage on flat ground. STUCK AGAIN. ON FLAT F-ING ground. Just sat and spun, and spun, and spun... TCS on, TCS off, didn't matter. I tried everything before I got 3 of my neighbors to push me. Finally got it backed into the garage...

I'm convinced if you are going to drive the Z in snow you need chains and or to drive it in reverse. Went great in reverse!! Haha... I'm driving my Celica until March now. Z is tucked away, clean, and under a warm blanket in the garage. It might get outside 1 day a month if there is a week + without snow.

 

Do what i do and put 300 pound of sand in the trunk.

Works for me.

 

Crossed my mind, but IMO still not worth it if the beater is running...

Sucks going from an 03-05 Z to a mid-90s celica, but... at least the celica doesnt get me stuck 5 times per trip and if i do wreck it, its nothing to fix (and or leave dented and or total it and not worry about it).

Furthermore, the Z might look pimp, but it doesnt look so pimp when you are stuck on flat ground in 1" of snow or when you have six 50lb. bags of sand in the back. hahaha.

 

might be a dumb point but I have TCS as I've only got an enthusiast, the touring guys out there have VDC which is a more complicated system... not sure how much different the 2 are RE handling...

I must agree that when merging from a ramp, one time my TCS went off and I couldn't get to speed fast enough... luckily the car behind me was a bit ways off... so use caution... just like ABS, learn it's limitations and use accordingly...

It's true the TCS does go off more in this car than with my accord but that might be due to the RWD and more power at the wheels... The sandbags in the back helps a lot..

 

This is my traction control .....2002 chevy S 10 4X4 ZR-2 edition . Snow = park the z for me.

 

Don't feel bad I have a base too. What is this...."traction control" that they speak of?

 

it's the hole on your floor that you push your feet into so that you can help steer your car with your shoes...

It's been in cars since Fred Flintstones...

 

Hahaha...

I wouldn't mind having the base if it had LSD and Xenons... TCS is useless to me.

Had the "merge story" described above happen to me about 5 times before I gave up on TCS. I'm convinced it has a mind of its own and just likes to give you a scare every now and then...

Not that its "easy" to drive the car without TCS. Some people, without it, will spin their Z into the side of a bridge and smash it up, but if you learn the limits of the car without TCS, you are much better off.

There is a reason people turn off the TCS to drag and/or road race... it just really screws you up more than it helps.

 

 

yea, well im gonna bite the bullet and get 4 kuhmos asx all seasons so the damn car is drivable.....stock potenzas are rediculous im like driving so slow it sucks..SO i got a good price quote for 550 for 4 kuhmo asx all seasons 17inch installed new valve stems etc lol not bad to drive a 30k+ car in the snow

 

FIrst thing i do when i get in my z is turn off the tcs. But yea be careful in the snow guys, the car is just horrible.

 

i have the kumho ecsta asx and they are great in snow... useless in ice though... as I learned today... good thing the alley was wide enough... TCS didn't even go off.. the tires just slid... no damage... but a nice scare...

 

I wouldn't drive the Z with anything less than Blizzaks... People say all-season work, but I had all-season on last year (Kumho ASX come to think of it) and almost died about 5 times in 3 months... The rest of the time I was fine, but any one of those 5 times could have been disastrous.

I'd tread lightly on snow days if all you have is all-seasons...